Wells Fargo to Sponsor REEL Recovery Film Festival San Francisco Bay Area Edition; In Partnership with Alcohol Justice and Writers In Treatment

March 27, 2014

Four Day Event Will Take Place April 24-27, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — San Rafael-based Alcohol Justice announced today that Wells Fargo Bank has become the first Platinum level sponsor for the Bay Area’s newest film event – The REEL Recovery Film Festival San Francisco Bay Area Edition. The four-day festival, taking place during National Alcohol Awareness Month, will present 33 select feature-length and short, fictional and factual alcohol and drug addiction themed films in twenty sessions at two locations and include two world premieres that highlight the disease as well as the hope and opportunity for recovery. There will be expert panel discussions following most of the screenings.

“Wells Fargo Bank is proud to support the REEL Recovery Film Festival,” stated Ann-Therese O’Neill, Vice President, Wells Capital Management. “This unique and creative public health and community wellness initiative will go a long way in creating public awareness about the options available to those facing the devastating disease of alcohol and drug misuse.”

“The generous corporate sponsorship of Wells Fargo, along with rehab facilities like Duffy’s Napa Valley, will help make the festival a huge success and help us turn it into an annual event,” stated Bruce Lee Livingston, Executive Director/CEO of Alcohol Justice.

The festival will be screening such films as “Flight,” starring Denzel Washington, and the documentaries “Sober Indian – Dangerous Indian” (a world premiere), “The Honour of All,” “Bill W,” and “Russell Brand: My Life Without Drugs.” There will also be an opening night symposium called “Chasing the Muse – When You’re Stone Cold Sober,” moderated by KCBS and KRON4 Film Critic Jan Wahl. Other participants in this candid conversation are Michael Pritchard, Beverly Allen, Scott Stevens, Jackie Bendzinski, Michael Shapiro and Mario Cipollina. “From The Lost Weekend to The Days of Wine and Roses to Flight, film has the power to help transport us to sobriety, one day at a time,” stated Wahl.

“Sober Indian – Dangerous Indian” is a documentary about Pine Ridge, South Dakota tribal members seeking empowerment through sobriety on the eve of their tribe’s vote to repeal prohibition on August 13, 2013. “As a former state liquor prosecutor, I’ve followed Alcohol Justice’s work for the past five years,” stated the film’s director John Maisch. “So I’m honored to premiere my documentary at the REEL Recovery Film Festival.”

“The event is a collaborative effort by Alcohol Justice and Studio City-based Writers In Treatment, founded by Leonard Buschel,” stated Michael Scippa, Director of Public Affairs for Alcohol Justice. “We are holding it during National Alcohol Awareness Month to help bring alcoholism and addiction out of the closet, reduce the stigma, and raise public awareness that it is not a moral failing but a devastating disease that, like other potentially fatal diseases, requires specialized treatment.”

The four-day festival takes place primarily at the Delancey Street Foundation Theater on The Embarcadero in San Francisco. There will also be special sessions for youth and families at the California Film Institute’s beautifully restored Art Deco Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael where “Behind the Orange Curtain,” and “On Life’s Terms: Mothers in Recovery” (a world premiere) will be screened.

It is the policy of the REEL Recovery Film Festival to charge a nominal ticket price for most of the sessions ($5), and to allow anyone admittance regardless of their ability to pay, if seats are available. Tickets are available now through BrownPaperTickets.com.